this morning the crew was up not nice and early.
they were quite pleased with themselves and life in general mainly because last night as i was tucking them into bed, i had shared that the next morning we would be going to see HORTON, an adaptation of the dr seuss classic..HORTON HEARS A WHO.
the movie started at 9.30 and at 8.45 we were out the door.
why so early? you ask, quite reasonably.
why do you think? money.
taking a family of six to the flicks is not a cheap exercise. but in hong kong, cinemas charge cheaper rates for the first show of the morning. and in this case, the 9.30 viewing of HORTON was $35per person, or app US$4.50. regular tickets would have been about twice that.
so, as any daughter of frugal blake would say, "9.30am it is! popcorn for breakfast is just like corn cakes...essentially"
we walked down to cyberport with chad, andrea and their three. the kids were excited but very well behaved. so well behaved that jasper only asked me to carry him once, and that was right toward the end.
once we marched into the cinema, andrea and i corralled the overexcited bunch into the lavatories and everyone did wees and washed hands (well, i trust sebastian, adam and jasper did both of these things, i have no proof, but i was so proud of sebastian who said he would be 'daddy' and watch over jasper in the men's room). the girls definitely did their wees and as carys was sitting on the toilet trying not to fall in, and i was attending to sela who said that she only needs to hold on to the seat with one hand and can grab toilet tissue with the other hand and therefore doesn't need me in the stall with her, a girl and her mum walked past her stall and carys said, "lauren!". it was a classmate from k2, and so sela and carys chatted so happily and unselfconsciously with lauren. "i just love her." sela confided.
then, charles and chad herded the kids into the seats and charged andrea and i with snacks. which we did with aplomb, i might add. we walked in, gave the kids popcorn to share and drinks, and they were on their way.
the movie was really quite good. a nice message, not too OTT jim carrey, and the whos in whoville were really darling.
around 3/4 through the movie, jasper decided to come and sit on my lap. after 20 minutes he got down, went back to his own seat, lifted up the armrest, laid down and watched the rest of the movie with his head in my lap and his little body spread out on his seat. carys sat with her dad and i held her hand. sela sat eating everyone's leftover popcorn, and sebastian, asheligh and adam were angelic. ella had been in her dad's lap for even longer than jasper had been in mine.
they really were very sweet. all in a row, the littles. so cute. they've all grown so much.
oh, btw - jasper and ella are an item. they are holding hands and they brazenly kissed infront of andrea and me today. "what are you doing?" we asked. "kissing!" they replied. "we like it!" oy!
after HORTON, we went to the bathroom again, and this time, my most hated daughter (can't remember which one)...i had them in the stall with me and as i was doing a wee, instead of thanking me for the gorgeous privilege of going to the cinema, one of them said, "mummy, your bottom is so big you can't fall into the toilet!" and there were was laughter from other stalls as other people overheard !
little rotters.
OH NO, Poor Tess! But I must admit I did laugh, as it made me remember the boys asking me if I lost my "pee-pee" in the toilet because it was missing! (The boys vs. girls pee-pees talk came shortly thereafter)
Love ya!
Posted by: Tonya | March 21, 2008 at 11:05 PM
Well, you didn't fall in, did you?
Posted by: joeinvegas | March 22, 2008 at 12:06 AM
I am assuming of course that HK has very tiny seats. Very tiny.
Posted by: joeinvegas | March 22, 2008 at 12:10 AM
I thought you had seen a comedy but it appears when you reached the end things bottomed out.
Bummer!
Love to all....Dad
Posted by: Dad aka Grandad Blake | March 22, 2008 at 12:20 AM
I must admit I did laugh pretty hard...
Glad the movie went well.. JJ is quite the little man ,, unreal
Love Auntie Pammie xoxo
Posted by: Auntie Pammie | March 22, 2008 at 01:14 AM
m and i have said that kids come with their own built in comic relief. perhaps it's one of those built in survival mechanisms, like "cute" and "does not *really* taste good with barbeque sauce."
Posted by: knobody | March 22, 2008 at 12:09 PM
Very clever mummy getting all off to a movie, I haven't taken my kids forever. You should have taken a pic! (not of your big butt, of those little sweet people.)
Posted by: Mel | March 22, 2008 at 01:53 PM
i had to laugh, as i have had similar experiences with my daughter. she liked to offer commentary on what it was i was doing in the toilet though.
Posted by: jade | March 22, 2008 at 04:10 PM